Dick de Zeeuw Lezing 2015 met Willem Ferwerda

The need for an ecosystem restoration industry, based on a holistic approach of four returns

Functional ecosystems that provide the vital ecosystems services for mankind are decreasing. It leads to degradation of ecosystems and biodiversity loss worldwide, creating a threat to human well-being, the global economy, trade and society.

In the very first Dick de Zeeuw lecture (2011) Prof. Dr. Joachim Von Braun talked about volatility in food prizes. One of his arguments was that we need a global assessment of the cost of inaction with regard to land and soil degradation. A lot of the poorest of the poor live on degraded soil and the long term food security of the world will be further and further undermined if this issue is not more comprehensively addressed.

For the fifth Dick de Zeeuw Lecture, Willem Ferwerda will talk about the need for an ecosystem restoration industry, based on a holistic approach of four returns. Ferwerda is executive director and initiator of Commonland, an international organization with the goal to scale up landscape restoration jointly with local stakeholders, by developing existing landscape projects on the basis of healthy underlying business cases. In his lecture he will talk about the four returns: inspirational capital, social capital, natural capital, and financial capital.

Can we build a restoration industry based on four returns to achieve productive landscapes in partnership with private investors and companies?